Source: New York City firm bought Pitney Bowes headquarters

Tim Loh

Published 8:03 pm, Friday, August 16, 2013

The buyer of the Pitney Bowes world headquarters in Stamford's South End is a New York City firm that has no specific plans for the building, according to a Stamford official who on Friday cited a source close to the transaction.

That would eliminate a developer considered by many local observers to be a plausible purchaser of the 442,455-square-foot facility since news of the deal broke late Wednesday: Building and Land Technology, the Stamford-based developer behind the sprawling Harbor Point project that's rapidly reshaping the South End.

The Pitney Bowes building is close to Harbor Point.

The city official who told Hearst Connecticut Newspapers of the New York City firm is Laure Aubuchon, Stamford's economic development officer. Speaking by telephone Friday, she emphasized that she does not know the name of that company or if it is a hedge fund, private equity fund, real estate investment trust or some other type of business.

Aubuchon also said she does not know the price of the transaction.

Pitney Bowes declined to comment for this article.

In recent days, several commercial real estate brokers and local officials told Hearst that the purchase appeared to be "off-market," meaning that Pitney Bowes had not formally started a sales process.

In an SEC filing earlier this week, Pitney Bowes indicated that it had incurred a "non-cash pre-tax impairment charge" of about $25 million for the sale, which was finalized Aug. 9.

In other words, the sale price was significantly lower than the value of the facility that Pitney Bowes had listed on its books, explained Walter Dolde, associate professor of finance at the Stamford branch of the University of Connecticut.

Pitney Bowes president and CEO Marc Lautenbach, who took the reins of the company late last year, has sought to slash costs and improve efficiencies within the company, which is transitioning from being a global leader in the fading postal metering and postage technology markets to a 21st century technology company specializing in digital commerce.

Friday, Mayor Michael Pavia said the first thing he'll do when he confirms the name of the buyer is determine the company's intentions.

"Our expectation is that it will be filled at some point in time," he said. "That would be a good thing for the city."